Rated PG-13 for violence and menace, sexual content, some language and teen partying
Cast: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Alyson Michalka, Danneel Harris
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
The film is essentially a remake of the 1992 Barbet Schroeder thriller "Single White Female", even though it is not credited as such. (The two movies were based on different books... John Lutz' "SWF Seeks Same" and Francine Pascal's "The Roommate". But the books had almost identical plots. Lutz' book was released first. So, putting the whole connect-the-copyright-dots thing aside, let's just call the movie what it is... a remake.)
"Single White Female" was not a stellar movie but it was more interesting, just plausible enough, and benefited from a creepy performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh as an obsessive personality whose dependency seemed bred from the depths of true madness. The character in "The Roommate" played by Leighton Meester is creepy only because the plot needs her to be.
Meester plays Rebecca, a cute co-ed with a dark side. The newfound object of her obsessive desire is Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly), her new college roommate. Sara has just broken up with her boyfriend and as a result, has chosen the west coast for her educational pursuits over Brown University. (The first of many unwise decisions.) They immediately bond, and Sara wastes no time in inexplicably offering up details about her background, including the death of her sister. Rebecca is noticeably obsessive right off the bat, but the plot needs Sara to remain oblivious even though her friends catch on to her roommate's true nature.
Rebecca is instantly needy, and threatens those she deems "bad influences" on Sara. She does this employing methods that can only be seen in the movies. In one eye roll-inducing scene, Sara's best friend is taking a shower in the dorm washrooms. She hears something, turns off the shower. The sound of another shower several stalls away is heard. She races to that shower. "I know it's you, Rebecca!" she declares. She pulls open the curtain to that stall... empty. She turns off that shower, but another shower can be heard. She races to that one. Empty. Turns it off and... yep, another shower is heard. And on this ridiculous sequence goes. (This chick makes Wile E. Coyote seem measured in his scheme preparation.) The friend is finally attacked and her life threatened.
Other acquaintances are put in harm's way, including the new love in Sara's life (Cam Gigandet), her fashion designer friend (Danneel Harris), and a lecherous professor (Billy Zane).
By contrast, "Single White Female" was set in New York and what made it believable was Bridget Fonda's insecurity and feelings of isolation in the confines of an unfamiliar city. As a result, she opted to put out an ad for a roommate. That movie dealt, at least on some level, with the theme of dependency. She didn't catch on to the obsessive tendencies of the Jennifer Jason Leigh character right away because she felt a sense of security in having a familiar face close by. Plus, there was a kind of sibling kinship before things started to turn sour. No such kinship exists in "The Roommate." One character is stupefyingly oblivious while the other is just plain weird.
I was also bothered by something else. It's a trend developing in modern-day thrillers. That is the movie's need to dilute itself down to PG-13 level. In an effort to obtain that ever-elusive MPAA rating, films are refusing to be daring. Barbet Schroeder wasn't afraid to make "SWF" disturbing, strange, and uncomfortable. For example... in one scene, Jennifer Jason Leigh enters the room of Fonda's fiance late at night. He's asleep. She passes herself off as her roommate, removes her clothes, climbs into bed with him, performs oral sex, forces an orgasm, then in a heated confrontation, she jams the heel of her shoe into his eye socket. It wasn't art, but at least it was something. I don't like to think of myself as depraved, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't holding out hope for a hint of nudity or some creative death scene that could get me through "The Roommate". No such luck.
Are my comparisons to "SWF" unfair? I don't think so. In the end, it doesn't matter. Regardless of any comparison, "The Roommate" was afflicted with the absolute inability to garner my interest, and the only antidote was the end credits as they mercifully began to scroll up the screen.
* 1/2 out of * * * * stars
